A Moment in Paradise
by B.L.A. the Mouse
Summary: A family of four plays on a sunny beach.


Summary: A family of four plays on a sunny beach.

Pairings: Nick/Natalie

Disclaimer: I don't own them, though I wish whoever does would go ahead and reprint the DVDs!

Rating: PG

Spoilers: "The Human Factor."

Setting: Not applicable.

Feedback: Please! Praise and constructive criticism welcome. Flames will be kept far away from any vampires, and anyone else for that matter.

Archive: Ask first and I'll probably say yes.

Author's Note: This is what happens when I binge-watch the third season. (In my defense, the library wanted their copy back!)

 **A Moment in Paradise**

 **By B.L.A. the Mouse**

The sun burned in the azure sky. It glinted off the waves that lapped at the white shoreline and sparkled on the sand grains falling from the shovel and the hands of the pair by the sea, and it glowed gold in the girl's hair and burnished the skin of the man. Even as the woman observed all this from the shade of the house across the beach, the girl looked up and said something to the man, neither the words nor his laughter audible at the distance but his reaction visible as his face lit up. The woman smiled at their enjoyment and secured both baby and bag more snugly before stepping onto the sand and picking her way to them.

As she drew closer, the girl spared her a wave before returning to her task, while the man paused his play and watched her come. He was not laughing now, but his face had settled into a familiar smile. "It's good of you to join us," he said, once she was close enough to hear without his voice being raised.

"Oh, you know that old expression," she answered easily, "about letting sleeping babies lie?" He chuckled, but he had a protective air as he watched her lower them both to the sand, setting Jamie down between her knees. No matter how often Nick told her she was beautiful, she still felt self-conscious in the bathing suit and was not above using the boy responsible for the lingering baby weight as camouflage. Once he seemed satisfied that they were safely in place but before he could turn back to the sand creation, she informed him, "You forgot something." At his puzzlement, she produced a slim tube from the bag and held it out to him.

He recognized it, his confusion clearing, but took it only reluctantly. "All that time I couldn't go out during the day and you won't let me enjoy the sun now?" Despite his protest, he opened it and started to apply the cream.

"Skin cancer kills, Nick." Satisfied that everyone else was protected, she turned to the girl, who had been ignoring the discussion in favor of an ever-deepening trench and an inversely-rising mound. "How about you? Nicole, do you have on sunscreen?" The girl nodded without looking up.

"Of course she does. I made sure before we came out."

"Hm, do as I say, not as I do?"

She had been joking in her rebuttal, but he was not as he said, "Do you think I'd let anything happen to her? I'm not sure what I'd do without any of you. _Especially_ you, Nat." He held her gaze with an intensity born of many years of love and loss.

She swallowed hard at that intensity. "I know." She could say nothing else; the simple exchange spoke volumes more than any words could convey.

It was interrupted by the movement of the baby, Jamie reaching for his sister's sand pile, and Natalie caught his hand just as the fistful of sand neared his mouth. "Oh, no. Not for eating at _all_." She ignored Nick's amusement as she prised the boy's fingers loose and replaced the sand with a teething toy from the bag. "So," she asked finally, once the drama had been resolved, "what are we building? Neuschwanstein Two?"

Nicole didn't answer, but Nick did. "I'm… not entirely sure. I did suggest Versailles, but…" He gestured at the mostly-shapeless mass, though Nicole was attempting to form a tower to one side.

"Well." Natalie turned her head sideways, contemplating the sand castle seriously. "I think," she decided finally, "in my professional opinion, that it looks more like the Bloody Tower." She blew air out, as if having come to a momentous decision, and snuck a glance over to see Nick shaking his head.

"The English never could build an attractive castle. She must take after your side."

"Hey!" But she laughed.

This trip had been a good idea, however silly it had seemed months ago when Nick first suggested it. They needed the break from the long Toronto winter. Maybe, once Ludwig's Bloody Tower of Versailles was breached by the tide, they could go into the water for a swim before they had to clean up for dinner. They already had reservations at a little place nearby, close enough to walk to. After dinner they could come back along the beach. The kids could finish tiring themselves out along the shore before bed and she and Nick could enjoy the sun setting red—

* * *

The jangle of the phone jerked her attention back to the morgue. It was on the third ring before she collected herself enough to answer. "Lambert." Focusing on the voice at the other end took all her presence of mind. "Two? Mm-hm. At the civic center. Okay, I'll be right there."

She hung up and sighed as she leaned back in her chair, contemplating the microscope she'd been working with before her mind had wandered. She had best put away Jannette's blood sample, carefully, and study it more later. She had bodies to examine, and so that daydream had to remain a daydream.

For now.

 **The End**


End file.
